Loving the red path!
Good Morning and Happy Monday!I don't know about you but I had a fantastic weekend and what I enjoyed the most, besides being with my family, was doing some work in the garden. Even though we rent, I love being able to work in the soil and make improvements. And I love that our landlord allows us this freedom. It makes me feel happy and I feel it allows me to teach darling daughter just what it means to take care of the Earth.
But onto running!
What did I run?
I ran 43.93 miles this week, just up a hair from last week. In all reality, my goal was 40 miles. The plan goal was 38-47 miles. Why was I aiming for 40? Because I have been building for three weeks and know historically this is about where my body gives in and craves a recovery week and a cut in mileage. With that said, I was also determined to hit my training daily and run according to plan and I did. However, this week it took some double days and breaking mileage into pieces to achieve my goal and I am okay with that since I do plan to do that on many days throughout my training this year. Here is my visual of my running this week:
How am I feeling?
I am feeling good. I know it may be a bummer to keep hearing I am feeling good if you are in a rut but I promise to be honest and I will tell you when I am feeling blech. I did wake up grouchy on Saturday and had to give myself a virtual kick in the butt with this Finding Motivation post and it worked. In all reality, I think I was just bummed to have to break up my long run. I wasn't overly excited to run long in the gym. But I did what I had to do and that is what matters in the long run. Nice pun there too!
But I did have hurdles this week and that was associated to transitioning from base training to strength training. I now have tempo runs on my plate and that worried me. Could I do it? Could I pick up my pace and grow my tempo run? Can I run a tempo run 7 seconds faster per mile than my tempo runs before? And on Wednesday, I successfully ran my 3 mile tempo run. Let's not think about this coming Wednesday yet....
What did I learn?
I am stronger than I give myself credit for. And I am liking how I feel sticking to my plan. I love that I built this plan on solid training principles and with my personal goals and needs in mind. Each week supports the benefit of having a training range per day for myself. I am building that same element into the training plan for my clients. It gives you flexibility per day and I feel as a running mom this is essential. And keeping my miles in the plan range is keeping me strong and injury free. Although, I do feel my hips are getting ready for another chiropractic session but that is okay since it is almost at that 4-week mark.
How did I fuel?
I am almost 100% Vega Sport now. My protein powder isn't and that is okay. I have a huge tub I bought on sale that is yummy delicious and made from ingredients I have no real issues with. I said good bye to Gatorade this week and tried the Vega Sport hydrator. One pack does 8 ounces of water but I still used one pack in my 12 ounce sports bottle. I am not doing the 1/2 pack thing and think it is okay. It is a yummy flavor and a pretty pink color. Gotta love that! This week I used one Vega Sport Endurance Gel during the 10 mile portion of my long run on Saturday. It was the raspberry flavor and it was much nicer. Perhaps I knew what to expect with texture. Perhaps I just prefer raspberry over orange zest. Time will tell since I still have one more of each to try before selecting my official go to.
I have said good bye as well to a morning coffee before running before work. Instead, I am drinking the Vega Sport pre-workout energizer and no, this isn't a Vega Sport sponsored post. I purchased all these items myself as I have always been wanting to try the product line. I want to eat clean and run clean. I will keep you in the loop on how it is all working out for me. It is too early to really say.
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for hardware stores and garden centers. Just walking inside can make me happy!
Daily Affirmation: I am growing spiritually.
